Food management system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for managing food processing and inventory. Food inventory held at food holding locations can be monitored. Food can be transferred among holding locations and served from holding locations. A prioritized food type list indicates food types to be processed and lists food types in order of determined priority. Food may be transferred to default destination holding locations. Food may be moved to and served from primary holding locations. Buttons associated with holding location displays can be actuated by different types of user engagement for executing various food management operations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of PCT Patent Application No.PCT/US2014/052956, filed Aug. 27, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.Patent Application No. 61/870,675 (provisional), filed Aug. 27, 2013,each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to food management and moreparticularly to systems, apparatus, and methods for managing food infood preparation establishments such as restaurants, including quickservice restaurants.

BACKGROUND

The success of restaurants depends in large part on speed of customerservice and quality of food served to customers. Speed of service may beimproved by forecasting or predicting food that will be ordered in thefuture and preparing food before it is ordered. For example, food may beprepared by cooking it (e.g., by baking, frying, broiling, etc.) andthen holding it in a condition suitable for serving in anticipation ofthe food being ordered by a customer. It is desirable to monitorinventory of cooked food to ensure it is served to customers within atime period during which it is suitable for serving and discarded orwasted if the food has not been served before that time period expires.Some systems for food management for restaurants are known. For example,certain systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,232,062, 7,258,064,and 7,953,632, which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present invention is directed to a food managementcontrol system for managing food in a food holding apparatus having atleast a first holding location and a second holding location for holdingfood of a first food type. The food management control system includes afood management controller configured for monitoring food expirationtimes associated with the first and second holding locations. A point ofsale device is configured for receiving customer orders and forgenerating a customer order signal representative of a customer orderfor an amount of the first food type. The food management control systemalso includes a user interface including at least first and secondholding location displays for displaying information associated with therespective first and second holding locations. The food managementcontrol system also includes a tangible storage medium having foodmanagement controller executable instructions stored therein. Theinstructions, when executed by the food management controller, displayon the first and second holding location displays food amount indicatorsrepresenting an amount of food held at the respective holding locations.The tangible storage medium stores food management controller executableinstructions for displaying a first food status indicator on one of thefirst and second holding location displays indicating food held at theholding location associated with said one of the first and secondholding location displays should be served first relative to food heldat the holding location associated with the other of the first andsecond holding location displays. The food management controller is inoperative communication with the point of sale device for receiving thecustomer order signal, and the food management controller is responsiveto the customer order signal to change the food amount indicatordisplayed on said one of the first and second holding location displaysto represent a reduced amount of food of the first food type held insaid one of the first and second holding locations.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a food managementcontrol system for managing food in a food holding apparatus. The foodholding apparatus has a plurality of food holding locations including atleast an origin holding location and a destination holding location forreceiving food transferred from the origin location. The food managementcontrol system includes a food management controller configured formanaging an inventory of food and monitoring hold times associated withthe food holding locations including the origin and destination holdinglocations. The food management control system includes a tangiblestorage medium storing a data structure identifying a hold time as beingassociated with the origin holding location. The tangible storage mediumincludes food management controller executable instructions storedtherein. The instructions, when executed by the food managementcontroller, identifying the destination holding location as a defaultdestination holding location among the plurality of food holdinglocations. The tangible storage medium includes food managementcontroller executable instructions for executing a default transfer inwhich the food management controller modifies the data structure toidentify the hold time as being associated with the default destinationholding location.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a computerexecutable method for use with food holding apparatus having a pluralityof food holding locations including at least an origin holding locationand a destination holding location to which food from the origin holdinglocation can be transferred. The method includes storing a datastructure in a tangible storage medium identifying a hold time as beingassociated with the origin holding location, monitoring, with a foodmanagement controller, the hold time associated with the origin holdinglocation, and referencing, with the food management controller,instructions stored in the tangible storage medium identifying a holdinglocation among the plurality of the holding locations as a defaultholding location for receiving the hold time in a default transfer. Themethod further includes executing, with the food management controller,instructions stored in the tangible storage medium to execute thedefault transfer including modifying the data structure to identify thehold time as being associated with the default destination holdinglocation.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a food managementcontrol system for managing food in a food holding apparatus. The foodholding apparatus has at least a first holding location and a secondholding location. The food management control system includes a foodmanagement controller configured for monitoring hold times associatedwith the first and second holding locations. The food management controlsystem includes a user interface including at least first and secondholding location displays for displaying information associated with therespective first and second holding locations. The first and secondholding location displays are arranged in an array corresponding to anarrangement of the respective first and second holding locations. Thefirst and second holding location displays are positioned in the arraycorresponding to positions of the respective first and second holdinglocations in the arrangement. A tangible storage medium stores a datastructure identifying the first holding location as a primary holdinglocation. The tangible storage medium has food management controllerexecutable instructions stored therein. The instructions, when executedby the food management controller, display a primary holding locationindicator on the first holding location display for distinguishing thefirst holding location from the second holding location as the primaryholding location. The primary holding location indicator indicates to auser to place food at the first holding location instead of the secondholding location when the first and second holding locations are notholding food and to transfer food from the second holding location tothe first holding location if the first holding location is not holdingfood.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a restaurant foodmanagement control system for managing an inventory of cooked food. Therestaurant food management control system includes a user interface fordisplaying a cook list of food types to be cooked for adding to theinventory of cooked food. The restaurant food management control systemincludes food management controller configured for managing theinventory of cooked food, monitoring a need for cooked food, anddetermining food types needed to be cooked. The restaurant foodmanagement control system includes a tangible storage medium storing thecook list. The tangible storage medium has food management controllerexecutable instructions stored therein. The instructions, when executedby the food management controller, determine a priority for each foodtype on the cook list as a function of an amount of food of that foodtype in the inventory and an amount of food of that food type needed tobe cooked. The tangible storage medium has food management controllerexecutable instructions that, when executed by the food managementcontroller, modify the cook list to arrange the food types on the cooklist in order of the determined priority.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a food managementcontrol system for managing an inventory of processed food. The foodmanagement control system includes a user interface for displaying aprioritized food type list of food types to be processed for adding tothe inventory of processed food. The food management control systemincludes a food management controller configured for managing theinventory of processed food, monitoring a need for processed food, anddetermining food types needed to be processed. The food managementcontrol system includes a tangible storage medium storing theprioritized food type list. The tangible storage medium has foodmanagement controller executable instructions stored therein. Theinstructions, when executed by the food management controller, determinea priority for each food type on the prioritized food type list as afunction of an amount of food of that food type in the inventory and anamount of food of that food type needed to be processed. The tangiblestorage medium has food management controller executable instructionsfor modifying the prioritized food type list to arrange the food typeson the prioritized food type list in order of the determined priority.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a food managementsystem for managing food in a food holding apparatus having a pluralityof holding locations. The food management system includes a foodmanagement controller configured for monitoring a status of theplurality of holding locations. The food management system includes auser interface including a plurality of holding location displaysassociated with respective holding locations for displaying informationassociated with the holding locations. The holding location displays arearranged in an array corresponding to an arrangement of the respectiveholding locations. The holding location displays are positioned in thearray corresponding to positions of the respective holding locations inthe arrangement. Each holding location display includes a touchsensitive area defining a button that can be actuated by at least afirst type of user engagement with the button. The food managementsystem including a tangible storage medium having food managementcontroller executable instructions stored therein. The instructions,when executed by the food management controller, display on each holdinglocation display information associated with the status of therespective holding location. The tangible storage medium has foodmanagement controller executable instructions for executing a firstoperation in response to the first type of user engagement with thebutton when a first holding location status is displayed on the holdinglocation display and for executing a second operation different than thefirst operation in response to the first type of user engagement withthe button when a second holding location status is displayed on theholding location display.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a computerexecutable method for use with food holding apparatus having a pluralityof holding locations. The method includes providing a user interfaceincluding a plurality of holding location displays associated withrespective holding locations for displaying information associated withthe holding locations. The holding location displays are arranged in anarray corresponding to an arrangement of the respective holdinglocations. The holding location displays are positioned in the arraycorresponding to positions of the respective holding locations in thearrangement. Each holding location display including a touch sensitivearea defining a button that can be actuated by at least a first type ofuser engagement with the button. The method also includes displaying oneach holding location display information associated with the status ofthe respective holding location, executing, with a food managementcontroller, a first operation in response to the first type of userengagement with the button when a first holding location status isdisplayed on the holding location display, and executing, with the foodmanagement controller, a second operation different than the firstoperation in response to the first type of user engagement with thebutton when a second holding location status is displayed on the holdinglocation display.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a food managementcontrol system for managing food in a food holding apparatus having aplurality of holding locations. The food management control systemincludes a food management controller configured for monitoring statusof the plurality of holding locations. The food management controlsystem includes a user interface including a plurality of holdinglocation displays associated with respective holding locations fordisplaying information associated with the holding locations. Theholding location displays are arranged in an array corresponding to anarrangement of the respective holding locations and positioned in thearray corresponding to positions of the respective first and secondholding locations in the arrangement. Each holding location displayincludes a touch sensitive area defining a button that can be actuatedby at least a first type of user engagement with the button and a secondtype of user engagement with the button different than the first type ofuser engagement with the button. The food management control systemincludes a tangible storage medium having food management controllerexecutable instructions stored therein. The instructions, when executedby the food management controller, display on each holding locationdisplay information associated with the status of the respective holdinglocation. The tangible storage medium has food management controllerexecutable instructions for executing a first operation in response tothe first type of user engagement with the button and for executing asecond operation different than the first operation in response to thesecond type of user engagement with the button.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is directed to a computerexecutable method for use with a food holding apparatus having aplurality of holding locations. The method includes providing a userinterface including a plurality of holding location displays associatedwith respective holding locations for displaying information associatedwith the holding locations. The holding location displays are arrangedin an array corresponding to an arrangement of the respective holdinglocations and positioned in the array corresponding to positions of therespective first and second holding locations in the arrangement. Eachholding location display includes a touch sensitive area defining abutton that can be actuated by at least a first type of user engagementwith the button and a second type of user engagement with the buttondifferent than the first type of user engagement with the button. Themethod further includes displaying on each holding location displayinformation associated with the status of the respective holdinglocation, executing, with a food management controller, a firstoperation in response to the first type of user engagement with thebutton, and executing, with the food management controller, a secondoperation different than the first operation in response to the secondtype of user engagement with the button.

Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointedout hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a food management system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a food management control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a photograph of a screenshot of a graphic interface of thepresent invention, the graphic interface displaying a cook list sectionon the left and a food holding apparatus status indication section onthe right;

FIGS. 4-13 are photographs of screenshots of the user interfaceincluding the food holding apparatus status indication section;

FIGS. 14-16 is are schematic representations of a cook list of thepresent invention;

FIG. 17 is a photograph of a screenshot of a graphic interface of asecond embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 18 is a schematic representation of a product holding apparatus ofthe present invention including multiple food holding units each havinga plurality of food holding locations.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a foodmanagement system according to the present invention, indicatedgenerally by the reference number 1. The system 1 may be used in varioustypes of food preparation establishments, such as restaurants, includingquick service or “fast food” restaurants. The system 1 can be used forforecasting or predicting food that will be ordered in the future,preparing food, monitoring food preparation and food inventory,providing indications and instructions regarding food preparation andfood inventory, and so forth. The system 1 may include food preparationapparatus 2 and control apparatus 4. The food preparation apparatus 2may include various food cooking devices 6 such as ovens 10, fryers 12,microwaves 14, grills 16, and broilers 18. The food preparationapparatus 2 may also include food holding apparatus 20 such as one ormore food holding units 22 for holding cooked food in a conditionsuitable for serving. The control apparatus 4 may include variousdevices such as point-of-sale devices 24, local computers 26, remotecomputers 28, tablets 30, hand-held computing devices 32 (e.g., smarttelephone), etc. The control apparatus 4 may be operatively connectedwith each other via a wired and/or wireless network 34 or other means.The control apparatus 4 may also be operatively connected with the foodpreparation apparatus 2 for sending and/or receiving signals therefrom.Aspects of food management systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.7,232,062 and 7,258,064, incorporated by reference above. It will beunderstood the food management system 1 of the present invention mayinclude any of the aspects disclosed therein.

An aspect of the present invention relates to the food holding apparatus20. In one example, as shown in FIG. 18 , the food holding apparatus 20may include one or more food holding units 22 adapted for holding foodat a suitable temperature (e.g., cool temperature, ambient temperature,and/or warm temperature). Such food holding units 22 may include one ormore locations 36 (e.g., compartments or wells) in which food may bereceived and held (e.g., in a container such as a pan). For example, thefood holding units 22 may include holding locations 36 adapted forholding cooked food in a warm condition suitable for serving. Example offood holding units of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,541,739, 7,105,779, and 7,328,654, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties, and U.S. Pat. Nos.7,232,062 and 7,258,064, incorporated by reference above. In anotherexample, the holding apparatus 20 may include holding units 22 in theform of tables, countertops, shelves, cabinets, housings, refrigerators,freezers, other support structures or surfaces, or any combinationthereof suitable for supporting food at holding locations. The holdinglocations may not include particular structure forming a compartment orwell. For example, two holding locations may be adjacent portions of agenerally flat support surface. The holding locations may be configuredfor holding the food in a warmed, refrigerated, ambient, or otherenvironment. Depending on the needs of a particular quick servicerestaurant, one or more holding units 22 may be used. It will beunderstood that food held at holding locations of the food holdingapparatus 20 may be held in a container, such as a pan, bag, box, orpackage, or may be placed uncontained or unpackaged at the holdinglocation.

A control system 40 (e.g., “food management control system” or “quickservice food management control system”) associated with the holdingapparatus 20 is shown schematically in FIG. 2 . Components of thecontrol system 40 may be part of the holding apparatus 20 and/or otherapparatus of the system 1, such as the point-of-sale device 24, localcomputer 26, remote computer 28, tablet 30, hand-held mobile computer32, etc. The control system 40 includes a controller 42 (e.g., centralprocessing unit or “CPU” or broadly “food management controller”)including one or more processors, a tangible storage medium 44 (e.g.,including forms of storage such as software 44A and firmware 44B), and auser interface 46. The tangible storage medium 44 may include at leastone memory device, and information may be stored in the tangible storagemedium (e.g., on at least one memory device) in one or more modifiabledata structures. The controller 42 may be a microprocessor or the like.The control system 40 includes interconnection electronics 48 thatoperatively connect the various components of the control system 40 andmay connect the control system via a communications interface 50 withother control apparatus 4 and/or food preparation apparatus 2. Forexample, the interconnection electronics 48 may include electrical orfiber optic lines or wireless communication devices. The communicationsinterface 48 may include wired or wireless communications devices orconnectors (e.g., USB flash drive port, other types of data ports,modems, wireless signal transmitters/receivers, etc.). The controller 42is adapted for reading and executing processor executable instructionsstored in the storage medium 44, and the controller is responsive to theuser interface 46, for controlling the various components and systems ofthe control system 40. A user can enter or modify instructions stored onthe storage medium 44 via the user interface 46 and/or via acommunications interface 50. In the illustrated embodiment, the userinterface 46 includes a touch screen display 64 (e.g., see FIG. 3 ), asexplained in further detail below. The touch screen display 64 includesa screen for displaying various views to the employees and is sensitiveto the touch of the employees for receiving input signals from theemployees by user engagements with the touch screen (e.g., via finger“taps,” “swipes,” or “sustained presses”). Alternatively or in addition,the user interface 46 may include a display not sensitive to touch of auser. The user interface 46 may also include other input/output devicessuch as a keyboard and/or various types of audio/visual devices, such asa timer bar including buttons on the food holding apparatus. Other typesof user interfaces may be used without departing from the presentinvention. The user interface 46 provides command signals via theinterconnection electronics 48 to the controller 42. The command signalscan include changes to the parameters (e.g., food preparation orinventory parameters, etc.) stored in the tangible storage medium 44.The controller 42 responds to the command signals and providesinformation (e.g., food status indications) and/or instructions via theinterconnection electronics 48 to the user interface 46 to becommunicated to the employees.

The at least one touch screen display 64 is associated with the foodholding apparatus 20 for monitoring food preparation and inventory(e.g., uncooked and/or cooked food inventory) and providing associatedinformation and instructions to employees. For example, the touch screendisplay 64 may be part of the point-of-sale device 24, local computer26, remote computer 28, tablet 30, and/or hand-held computing devices32, etc. At least one touch screen display 64 is desirably positionedproximate the food holding apparatus 20 for reference by employees usingthe food holding apparatus. For example, in one embodiment, the touchscreen display 64 is part of the tablet 30 and is mounted or otherwisesupported next to the food holding apparatus 20. Alternatively, thetouch screen display 64 may be part of the food holding apparatus 20.For example, the food holding unit 22 may include multiple touch screendisplays (e.g., arranged in an array on the holding unit) associatedwith and positioned proximate to respective individual or groups ofholding locations 36, or the food holding unit 22 may include a globaltouch screen display associated with all of the holding locations.

The user interface 46 (e.g., the touch screen display 64) may provideinformation to the employees and receive information from the employeesregarding many aspects of food preparation and inventory, some of whichwill be understood by reference to the patents incorporated by referenceherein. The touch screen display 64 may indicate to employees amountsand types of food to be cooked based on forecasted and/or recent orders.In addition, the touch screen display 64 may indicate to employeesstatus of food being held in the food holding apparatus 20 (e.g.,whether the food is suitable for being served, whether its hold time hasexpired, etc.).

FIG. 3 shows a screen shot of an example view (graphic interface) thatmay be displayed on the touch screen display 64. The view includes onthe left side a cook list section 70 indicating food to be cooked, andon the right side a food holding apparatus status indication section 72showing status of the holding locations 36 of the holding apparatus 20where food may be held. Regarding the cook list section 70, it will beunderstood that the control system 40 may forecast or predict foodexpected to be ordered in predetermined time increments (e.g., in timeincrements of 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes), and the food needed tobe cooked (demand) to meet upcoming time increments may be shown on thecook list section. Various calculations or algorithms may be used topredict the food needed to meet future orders. Examples of someforecasting calculations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,232,062 and7,953,632. The forecasting may be based on historical data (e.g., salesin dollars and/or food amounts) generated by the point-of-sale device24, recent trends in sales or demand for food types (e.g., as determinedby signals from the point-of-sale device, such as recent customerorders), and other parameters or special factors (e.g., weather, localsporting events). In the illustrated embodiment, the cook list section70 includes a plurality of cook lists 70A, 70B, 70C corresponding todifferent cooking devices including the fryers 12, ovens 10, and grills16. It will be understood that other types of food preparation apparatus(such as the broiler 18, microwave 14, etc.) may be shown based on theapparatus needed for preparing food at the relevant time of the day.Moreover, one cook list may include food types to be cooked by differentcooking devices without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. The food types to be cooked are indicated by a food typeindicator such as a full or abbreviated name of the type of food (e.g.,“BISC” for biscuits, “FT” for French toast, “EGG” for eggs, and soforth) and an amount of that food type to be cooked (e.g., “15” for“FT,” “10” for “SAUSAG”), which together may be referred to as a lineitem. The food type indicator may include an symbol (e.g., graphic) inplace of or in addition to the alpha/numeric text for the food typeindicator and/or amount to be cooked. The cook lists are stored on thetangible storage medium 44 (e.g., in a data structure therein) and aremodifiable by the controller 42, as will become apparent. Additionalaspects of the food cook list section 70 will be described in furtherdetail below.

Food may be stored in the food holding apparatus 20 (e.g., after it iscooked or otherwise prepared, such as by thawing, cutting, assembling,and/or portioning) until it is served to a customer or discarded aswaste. Inventory of food held in the food holding apparatus 20 may bemonitored by the control system 40, and indications of the status of theholding locations 36 (e.g., status of food held at the holdinglocations) may be shown on the touch screen display 64. As will beexplained in further detail, the food holding apparatus status section72 indicates status of food holding locations 36 such as “no foodpresent,” “food present,” “food suitable for serving,” “food to beserved first,” “food to be served second,” and “food expired or to bediscarded.”

Referring to FIG. 4 , in which a partial view of the touch screendisplay 64 is shown without the cook list section 70, the food holdingapparatus status section 72 includes an array of holding locationdisplays 80 representing respective holding locations 36 of the foodholding apparatus 20 and on which information associated with therespective holding locations is displayed. The holding location displays80 are arranged in an array (e.g., including columns and rows)corresponding to an arrangement of the food holding locations 36, andthe holding location displays are positioned in the array correspondingto the position of the respective holding locations in the arrangement.The array of compartment displays 80 includes sub-arrays 81 of holdinglocation displays representative of holding locations 36 of individualfood holding units 22 (e.g., “PHU 1,” “PHU 2,” “PHU 3”). The status ofthe respective locations 36 may be shown by status indicators such assymbols, color, outlining, bolding, flashing, text, numbers, graphics orother visual indicators. In the illustrated embodiment, the locations 36that are inactive are indicated by a generally blank holding locationdisplay 80 and dim or gray appearance of the holding location display.The holding locations 36 that are active are indicated at least by afood type indicator 80A (e.g., food type name or symbol, etc.representing the food type) indicating the food type to be held at theholding location. Among the active holding locations 36, those in whichno food is held are indicated by there not being a countdown timer 80Bdisplayed and optionally a relatively dim appearance or blue shading ofthe holding location display 80. The holding locations 36 in which foodis held are indicated by a lighter (e.g., illuminated/white) appearance,a displayed hold time indicator 80B (e.g., countdown timer), and a foodamount indicator 80C (e.g., a number representative of the amount offood held at the location 36). A holding location 36 having food forwhich the hold time has not yet elapsed and which has been held thelongest (or will expire the soonest) among locations holding the sametype of food is indicated by green coloring. For example, the hold timeindicator 80B, food type indicator 80A, and food amount indicator 80Cmay be displayed in green. Alternatively, the holding location display80 may include a green background. Holding locations 36 having the samefood type that have been held for a shorter time are indicated by yellowcoloring (or orange/amber coloring). For example, the hold timeindicator 80B, food type indicator 80A, and food amount indicator 80Cmay be displayed in yellow. Alternatively, the holding location displaymay include a yellow background. It will be understood that theseindicators convey to the employees to serve food from the location 36indicated by green (corresponding to food longest held or soonest toexpire) before serving food from the location indicated by yellow tofacilitate a “first-in, first-out” serving convention. A holdinglocation 36 having food for which the hold time has elapsed is indicatedby red coloring. For example, the hold time indicator 80B (e.g.,“0:00”), food type indicator 80A, and food amount indicator 80C may bedisplayed in red. Alternatively, the holding location display 80 mayinclude a red background (e.g., flashing red background). The processor42 is responsive to instructions in the tangible storage medium 44 anduser input from the user interface 46 for displaying, updating, andchanging the indicators on the holding location displays 80.

Although the holding location displays 80 are illustrated as all beingsections of the touch screen display 64, it will be appreciated thatother configurations can be used without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. For example, the holding location displays 80 couldbe unconnected or separate from each other (e.g., on respective separatetouch screen displays). Such separate holding location displays couldstill be arranged in an array corresponding to the holding locations.For example, the holding location displays 80 could be positioned on theholding apparatus 20 in such an array (e.g., next to the respectiveholding locations 36).

Although the illustrated hold time indicators 80B are count down timers,it will be understood other hold time indicators may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. For example, the holdtime indicator may be a count up timer, a static time (e.g., staticexpiration time), color, symbol, graphic, text, bolding, highlighting,outlining, or other indicator without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. As used herein, the term “hold time” can mean anexpiration time, a time remaining until expiration, a time food has beenheld, etc., without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Although the illustrated food amount indicators 80C indicate numbers offood items, it will be understood other types of food amount indicatorsmay be used without departing from the scope of the present invention.For example, it may be desirable to indicate amount of food by weight,volume, percentage (e.g., percentage of an amount), or other measures,any of which may be used without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

In one aspect of the present invention, employees may be trained toserve food from designated “primary” or “serving” locations 36 of theholding apparatus 20. It may be desirable to train the employees toserve from these designated primary locations 36 for ease of use andefficiency. For example, when the primary holding location is notholding food, employees should transfer non-expired food of that typeheld in other locations 36 to the primary location for that food type,or place new food at the primary location instead of a differentlocation for that food type. The primary locations 36 may be indicatedby primary location indicators 82 on the respective holding locationdisplays for distinguishing the primary locations from other locationsdesignated for holding the same type of food. In the illustratedembodiment, primary locations 36 are indicated by “key” symbols 82 inthe upper left corner of the holding location displays 80 representativeof the primary locations. The primary holding location indicators 82 areparticularly helpful to a user in distinguishing the primary holdinglocation from another holding location when both holding locations areindicated on the respective holding location displays as being activebut not holding food. For example, referring to FIG. 4 , the two lower“EGG” holding locations are both shown by their holding locationdisplays 80 as being active but not holding food. The holding locationdisplays for those two holding locations have essentially the sameappearance except for the primary holding location indicator 82distinguishing one from the other. To assist a user in placing food atthe primary holding location, if the user attempts to enter food at anon-primary holding location (e.g., via user input), and the primarylocation is not holding food, the controller 42 may prompt the user(e.g., with an appropriate alert or prompt window) to enter the foodinto the primary holding location instead of the non-primary holdinglocation. The primary locations 36 may be indicated in other ways, suchas by other symbols (e.g., stars, asterisks, etc.), graphics, text,color, outlining, bolding, highlighting, etc. without departing from thescope of the present invention. For example, the primary locations 36may be lower, left locations relative to the other locations (e.g., at abottom left side of the array of holding location displays) for holdingthe same type of food (e.g., see the EGG location displays 80 in FIG. 4), or may be a top, center location relative to the other locations(e.g., see the BISC location displays 80 in FIG. 4 ). The primarylocation 36 may be pre-determined and stored in the tangible storagemedium 44 (e.g., in a data structure stored by the tangible storagemedium). The primary locations 36 may be programmed and re-programmed(e.g., using the user interface 46) according to preference andconvenience. The primary locations will be discussed in further detailbelow with respect to transfer of food among holding locations.

Various aspects and functions of the control system 40 and in particularthe user interface 46 (e.g., touch screen display 64) will now beexplained with reference to FIGS. 4-12 . In an aspect of the presentinvention, various operations of the control system 40 may be initiatedor executed by different user engagements with the touch screen display64, and in particular with buttons 89 of the holding location displays80. For example, an employee may perform different engagements by“quickly tapping” (e.g., briefly touching for 0.5 seconds or less andreleasing) or “long holding” (i.e., “sustained pressing,” e.g., for 1 or1.5 seconds) on the touch screen 64, as will be described in furtherdetail below. As used herein, a “sustained press” is defined as being asubstantially longer engagement than a “tap,” such as at least about 0.5seconds, at least about 1 second, at least about 1.5 seconds, etc.longer than a tap. Other types of single user engagements may be used,such as “sustained pressing and dragging,” and multiple user engagementscan be used, such as multiple “taps,” multiple “sustained presses,” andany combination of such user engagements, without departing from thescope of the present invention. The tangible storage medium 44 mayinclude processor executable instructions for changing the resultbrought about by or the operation executed as a result of the differenttypes of engagements of the touch screen display 64 as a function of thestatus of the particular holding location 36 indicated by the holdinglocation display 80 engaged by the employee. It will be appreciated thatthe multiple functionality of the holding location display buttons 89,and the changing functionality of the buttons as a function of thestatus of the holding locations 36 (as indicated by the holding locationdisplays 80), may enable the food holding apparatus status section 72 tohave a relatively clean appearance and be relatively uncluttered, whichenhances user understanding and facilitates efficient interaction.

In the illustrated embodiment, the food holding apparatus status section72 includes the plurality of holding location displays 80, which eachinclude a touch sensitive area defining the button 89. In theillustrated embodiment, the buttons 89 are substantially co-extensivewith the holding location displays 80 and have respective boundariesadjacent boundaries of the holding location displays. In the illustratedembodiment, the boundaries of the buttons 89 are shown as rectangularoutlines or borders that are also the boundaries of the respectiveholding location displays 80. The buttons 89 may have other sizes andshapes without departing from the scope of the present invention. Forexample, the buttons may be at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, atleast 70%, at least 80%, at least 90% or more of the holding locationdisplays. The buttons 89 desirably have sufficient size to facilitateconvenient engagement with them by a finger of a user. It will beappreciated that the holding location displays 80 may be relativelysmall, and it may be desirable to provide the buttons 89 with thelargest size possible to facilitate engagement with the buttons. In theillustrated embodiment, the buttons 89 are the only buttons in the touchsensitive area of respective holding location displays 80. The size ofthe buttons 89 may be described with reference to the holding locationindicators that are displayed on the holding location display 80 in thetouch sensitive area defining the buttons. For example, one or moreindicators such as the food amount indicator 80C, food hold timeindicator 80B, and food type indicator 80A can be displayed in the touchsensitive area of the holding location display 80 defining the button89. In the illustrated embodiment, when the holding location displayindicates no food is held and when it indicates food is held and not yetexpired, only information representative of the status of the holdinglocation is displayed in the touch sensitive area of the holdinglocation display 80 defining the button 89. When a holding locationdisplay indicates a status of no food held or food held is not yetexpired, the touch sensitive area of the holding location display isfree of any indicator indicating an operation executed in response toengagement with the button. It is believed the above features providethe holding location displays with a relatively clean appearance andfacilitate quick user comprehension and interaction. Other buttonconfigurations may be used without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. As will be described in further detail below, thebuttons 89 may be actuated by different types of user engagement withthe buttons, such as the user engagements described above. For example,a button 89 may be actuated by briefly tapping the button to bring up aprompt window providing access to various other buttons associated withthe holding location 36 or by making a sustained press of the button toexecute certain functions with or without bringing up a prompt window.It will be understood that the operations initiated or executed by thedifferent types of user engagement with the buttons 89 associated withthe holding locations 36 (e.g., brief tap and sustained press) may beother than described or be switched without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

When food is ready to be held in the food holding apparatus 20 (e.g.,after the food has been cooked), an employee may place the food at achosen location 36 of the food holding apparatus appropriate for holdingthe particular type of food. Desirably, the chosen location 36 isindicated on its holding location display 80 as being active but notholding food. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , if the employee cookedeggs, the employee may place them in the top right EGG location 36. Tosignal to the control system 40 that the eggs are now present in thatlocation 36, the employee may briefly “tap” or “long hold” (“sustainedpress”) the holding location display 80 representing that location onthe touch screen display 64. If the employee “taps” the holding locationdisplay 80, the prompt window 90 shown in FIG. 5 appears. The promptwindow 90 includes an input value field 90A, number buttons 90B, a backor delete button 90C, a discard or waste button 90D, and an enter orreturn button 90E. The input value field 90A may be automatically filledwith the amount of that type of food the control system expects that theemployee cooked. In other words, the amount of eggs that the cook list70C instructed the employee to cook (in this case 10) may beautomatically provided by the controller 42 in the input value field 90Aas a default or suggested amount of food to be entered. If the employeewould like to deviate from the suggested amount of food (e.g., if adifferent amount was cooked), they may change the amount in the inputvalue field 90A using the delete button 90C and number buttons 90B. Theemployee may press the enter button 90E to signal to the control system40 that the amount shown in the input value field 90A is the amount offood supplied to the relevant holding location 36. The controller 42logs this amount in the tangible storage medium 44 as being the amountof food held at the associated holding location 36. The prompt window 90then closes, and the food amount indicator 80C and hold time indicator80B appear on the holding location display 80 representative of thatlocation 36. If the employee does not press the enter button 90E, theprompt window 90 will disappear after a predetermined relatively shorttime (e.g., 2, 3, 4, etc. seconds), and the food amount shown in theinput value field 90 will be entered and appear in the food amountindicator 80C on the holding location display 80, such as shown in FIG.6 . Alternatively, if the employee would like to bypass the promptwindow 90, the employee may “long hold” the holding location display 80associated with the holding location 36, which will cause the suggestedor default amount of food to be entered (e.g., without any further userinput from the employee). The controller 42 logs this amount in thetangible storage medium 44 as being the amount of food held at theassociated holding location 36. The prompt window 90 will not be shown,the default food amount will be represented by the food amount indicator80C, and the countdown timer 80B will appear and begin to count down.

While a holding location 36 is indicated on its respective holdinglocation display 80 as containing food, the amount of food indicated asbeing held at the holding location may be updated. For example, if theholding location 36 is indicated as “serve first” (e.g., green color),the control system 40 will presume the employees are serving food fromthat location, and the controller 42 will change (e.g., update) the foodamount indicator 80C of the holding location display 80 representingthat “serve first” holding location 36 to represent a decreased amountof food, responsive to a signal from the point-of-sale device 24indicating an amount of food of that type has been ordered by acustomer. The controller 42 logs this decreased amount in the tangiblestorage medium 44 as being the amount of food held at the associatedholding location 36. For example, if the food amount indicator 80C shows“10” and the point-of-sale device 24 signals a customer ordered one itemof that food type, the controller 42 will display on the respectiveholding location display 80 an updated food amount indicator to show“9.” This may occur substantially in real-time, in a delayed fashion,and/or periodically. Moreover, for various reasons, the employees mayneed to update the amount of food indicated as being held. For example,some of the food may have fallen out of the pan while the employee wastaking food from the pan. To manually increase or decrease the amount offood indicated by the food amount indicator 80C, the employee maybriefly “tap” the holding location display 80 associated with therelevant location 36 to bring up the prompt screen 90 shown in FIG. 5 .The employee may enter the correct amount of food in the input valuefield 90A such as by using the delete button 90C and/or the numberbuttons 90B and update the food amount indicator 80C with that amountusing the enter button 90E. The controller 42 logs this amount in thetangible storage medium 44 as being the amount of food held at theassociated holding location 36.

While a food holding location 36 is indicated on the associated holdinglocation display 80 as containing food suitable for serving, the foodmay be transferred from that holding location to a different holdinglocation, and the hold time indicator 80B may be transferred to theholding location display 80 associated with the different holdinglocation. For ease of reference, the holding location 36 from which thefood is transferred will be referred to as the origin holding location,and the location to which the food is to be transferred will be referredto as the destination holding location. For example, as explained above,it may be desirable for employees to serve food from a primary orserving location of the holding apparatus 20 for a particular type offood. If the primary holding location needs to be supplied with food,food from another holding location 36 (e.g., a container having anamount of food in it) may be transferred to the primary location. Theidentity of the primary holding location may be stored in the tangiblestorage medium 44 as a default destination holding location. In otherwords, transfers to the primary holding location may be executedautomatically as “default transfers.” In such cases, the primary holdinglocation indicator 82 can be referred to as a default destinationlocation indicator. Alternatively or in addition, the control system 40may permit “selected transfers” (e.g., override of “default transfers”)in which the employee selects a desired destination holding locationthat is different than the default destination holding location. Forexample, processor executable override instructions responsive to userinput would designate a different holding location 36 than the defaultlocation as the destination holding location. In one example, theinstructions to identify the destination holding location would identifythe default holding location as the only destination holding locationunless the override instructions have been executed prior to executionof the identifying instructions.

Transfers may be executed in various ways, such as by different types ofuser engagement with the buttons 89 of the holding location displays 80.For example, the transfer function may be executed by “long holding”(“sustained pressing”) the button 89 on the holding location display 80for an origin holding location. Referring to FIG. 6 , the top left EGGholding location 36 is indicated as being long held by the gray shadingof the holding location display 80. The long hold may bring up a pendingtransfer window 100, such as shown in FIG. 7 . The pending transferwindow 100 may be shown for a relatively short pending transfer time(e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. seconds), during which time a pending transfercountdown timer 100A may be shown in the transfer window, and duringwhich time the employee may cancel the transfer (e.g., by tapping thetouch screen display 64 outside the transfer window 100). At the end ofthe pending transfer time, the transfer window 100 disappears, and thefood amount indicator 80C and hold time indicator 80B are transferredfrom the origin holding location display 80 to the primary (destination)holding location display. The controller 42 transfers association of thehold time to the destination holding location and records this in thetangible storage medium 44. In other words, in response to the longhold, the control system 40 executes an “automatic transfer” to thedefault (primary) destination holding location display 80 (e.g., withoutany additional user input). For example, as shown in FIG. 8 , the foodamount indicator 80C and hold time indicator 80B have been transferredfrom the top left EGG holding location display 80 to the primary, bottomleft EGG holding location display 80. The pending transfer window 100may be omitted without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. In other words, a transfer may happen without theintermediate step of displaying the transfer window 100.

Alternatively, if the employee desired to make a “selected transfer,”they could, for example, during the pending transfer countdown time, tapthe pending transfer window 100 to signal the control system 40 toexecute a selected transfer instead of a default transfer. An example ofsuch a process is illustrated in FIGS. 9-12 . The bottom right EGGholding location display 80 is illustrated as being long held by grayshading in FIG. 9 . This brings up the pending transfer window 100, asshown in FIG. 10 . Tapping the pending transfer window 100 makes thewindow disappear, after which the employee may tap the holding locationdisplay 80 representative of the desired or selected destination holdinglocation. FIG. 11 illustrates the employee tapping the top left EGGholding location display 80 (e.g., indicated by the gray shading). Inresponse to this user input, the controller 42 executes the selectedtransfer or default transfer override instructions in the tangiblestorage medium 44. The processor 42 transfers the food amount indicator80C and hold time indicator 80B of the origin holding location display80 (the bottom right EGG location 36) to the holding location display 80of the selected destination holding location (the top left EGG location36), rather than to the holding location display representing thedefault holding locations 36, which in the case illustrated in FIG. 11already contained food.

It will be appreciated that default and selected transfer operations maybe initiated and executed in other fashions without departing from thescope of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 13 , atransfer may be initiated by briefly tapping the holding locationdisplay 80 of the origin location to bring up a prompt window 90′similar to the window 90 shown in FIG. 5 . The prompt window 90′includes the same features of the window 90 described above and alsoincludes two transfer buttons, namely a default (primary) transferbutton 102 and a selected transfer button 104. If the default transferbutton 102 is used, the prompt window 90′ would disappear, and the foodamount indicator 80C and hold time indicator 80B would transfer to thedefault holding location display 80. If the selected transfer button 104were used, the prompt window 90′ would disappear, and the food amountindicator 80C and hold time indicator 80B would transfer to a selecteddestination holding location display after it is tapped by the employee.In other words, using the selected transfer button 104 overrides theinstructions in the tangible storage medium 44 identifying the defaultdestination holding location as the only destination holding locationand permits the user to select a desired destination holding location.As another example, the button 89 of the origin holding location display80 could be actuated by the “sustained pressing and dragging” userengagement type mentioned above, in which the dragging is toward thedefault holding location and the user engagement is released beforereaching the default holding location, could initiate or execute thedefault transfer. The controller 42 may be responsive to the dragging toshow the holding location display 80 or other image moving on the touchscreen display 64 in the direction of the dragging. Moreover, if theuser desired to perform a selected transfer to a location 36 other thanthe default holding location, the user could sustained press the button89, drag the holding location display 80 or other representative image,and drop it on a selected destination holding location display.

In one embodiment, the control system 40 may include at least one sensor110 used for initiating a transfer. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2,and 18 , sensors 110 may be provided on the food holding apparatus 20 atrespective food holding locations 36. The sensors 110 may be adapted forsensing whether food is present at the holding locations 36. Varioustypes of sensors 100 may be used, such as weight sensors, pressuresensors, presence sensors, optical sensors, or other types of sensors.For example, if the primary holding location for a particular type offood is indicated on its holding location display 80 as not holdingfood, and a sensor 110 associated with a holding location 36 indicatedas holding food of the same type signals the control system 40 that thepan has been removed from that holding location, the control system mayautomatically initiate or execute a default transfer, i.e., transfer thefood amount indicator 80C and hold time indicator 80B to the primary(default) holding location display. It is assumed that the employee hasremoved the food from the non-primary holding location 36 to transferthe food to the primary holding location from which the food will beserved. Moreover, if a sensor 110 in the default destination holdinglocation (e.g., primary holding location) signals the controller 42 thatthere is no food present in that location, and the controller mayexecute instructions stored in the tangible storage medium 44 forinitiating or executing a default transfer of food held in anotherholding location to the default destination holding location. Forexample, when the primary (default destination) holding location for aparticular food type becomes empty, and food of that type is being heldin another holding location, the controller 42 may provide a prompt oralert to the user, or provide a suggestion to the user which they mayaccept or decline via user input, to transfer the food to the defaultdestination holding location (e.g., upon the user accepting via userinput). A similar default transfer could be initiated or executed by thecontroller 42 without using a sensor 110 but instead monitoring statusesof holding locations (as displayed by the holding location displays).For example, if a default destination (primary) holding location for aparticular type of food is indicated by its holding location display 80as not holding food, and another holding location is indicated by itsholding location display as holding that type of food, the controller 42may initiate or execute a default transfer from that holding location tothe default destination holding location. If more than two holdinglocations 36 other than the default destination holding location areshown as holding food, the origin holding location for the defaulttransfer would be identified as the holding location having a “servefirst” status (e.g., green color displayed by the respective holdinglocation display 80). This step of identifying the origin holdinglocation between two potential origin holding locations could also beused in a transfer involving a sensor signaling the default destinationholding location is not holding food.

When food at a holding location 36 is indicated on its holding locationdisplay 80 as containing expired food (hold time elapsed, e.g., “0:00”),the amount of expired food represented as held in the holding locationmay be updated. For example, to indicate to the control system 40 thatthe expired food is being discarded, the employee may tap on the holdinglocation display 80 representative of the relevant holding location 36.The prompt window 90 such as shown in FIG. 5 would appear. The foodamount last indicated by the food amount indicator 80C would appear inthe food amount input field 90A. This amount represents the suggestedamount of wasted food. If the amount is correct, the employee may usethe waste button 90D to reset or clear the holding location display 80(i.e., remove the hold time indicator 80B and food amount indicator 80C,and change the displayed status from “food held” to “food not held” suchas by color change). If the amount is incorrect (e.g., not accuratelyrepresentative of the amount of food in the pan to be discarded), theemployee may correct the amount using the delete button 90C and/or thenumber buttons 90B and then use the waste button 90D to reset/clear theholding location display 80. The control system 40 logs the amount offood last shown in the food amount input field 90A in the tangiblestorage medium 44 as wasted food. After the holding location display 80has been cleared (i.e., the food has been wasted), the holding locationdisplay no longer shows a hold time indicator 80B or food amountindicator 80C, shows “no food held” status, and is ready for theemployee to initiate another hold sequence per the steps describedabove.

In view of the discussion above, it will be appreciated that the buttons89 of the touch screen display 64 associated with the holding locations36 permit execution of different operations by different activations oractuations of the buttons by different types of user engagement with thebuttons. For example, in one embodiment, as described above, tapping (afirst type of engagement) of a button 89 for a holding location display80 brings up the prompt window 90 (e.g., from which the amount of foodindicated as stored at the location 36 can be changed or a transfer maybe initiated), and long holding or sustained pressing (a second type ofengagement) of the button executes a transfer. In other embodiments, adefault transfer may be initiated or executed by tapping and a selectedtransfer may be initiated or executed by long holding. As also describedabove, upon inserting food into a previously empty holding location 36,tapping the button 89 associated with the holding location display 80may bring up the prompt window 90, and sustained pressing the button mayautomatically enter the suggested amount of food (e.g., previouslydisplayed on the cook list). Moreover, as also described above, uponexpiration of the hold time, tapping the button 89 may bring up theprompt window 90 (where the amount of food to be wasted can bemodified), and long holding the button may automatically log thesuggested amount of food as waste and change the displayed status of theholding location 36 to “no food held.” It will be understood that otheroperations may be executed based on other types of engagements with thetouch screen display, and the operations initiated or executed bytapping, long holding, or other types of engagements may be switched orinterchanged without departing from the scope of the present invention.It will be appreciated that the appearance of the buttons 89 issubstantially the same for a particular food holding location displayamong the various holding location statuses, other than the updating ofdisplayed information representative of the status of the holdinglocation in the touch sensitive area of the holding location displaydefining the button. For example, a button appears substantially thesame among holding location statuses except for the updating ofdisplayed indicators representing food type, amount, hold time, whetherfood is present, whether food should be served first or second, andwhether food is expired. However, other configurations may be usedwithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

In another aspect of the present invention, the cook list section 70 maydisplay food types to cook in order of floating priority. This will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 14-16 , which illustrate schematicallya cook list 70B′ that may be displayed in the cook list section 70 ofthe view of the touch screen display 64 of FIG. 3 . It will beappreciated that the cook list 70B′ illustrated in FIGS. 13-16 isspecifically for an oven, and cook lists for other appliances and globalcook lists (including food types cooked by different appliances) may beused according to the principles explained herein (e.g., as shown inFIG. 3 ), without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thecook lists may be updated in substantially real-time, on a delayedbasis, and/or periodically, based on the determined priority for cookingcertain food types. Priority for cooking certain types of food may bedetermined by a ratio of “inventory” versus “need.” The food that is ininventory (on hand) includes the food ready to be served (e.g., cookedfood) and can be determined by summing the amount of food of theparticular type indicated as currently held in the food holdingapparatus 20 (e.g., summing the amount represented by the food amountindicators 80C for all holding locations 36 holding that food type). Theamount of food of each type that is needed (demand) can be determined byforecasting or predicting, as described above, for predeterminedintervals of time. For example, if it is predicted 10 biscuits will beneeded in the next 30 minutes (or other pre-determined time increment orincrements), and there are 5 biscuits currently in inventory, the ratioof inventory versus need for biscuits would be 5:10 or 50%. If it ispredicted 10 cookies will be needed in the next 30 minutes, and thereare 3 cookies in inventory, the ratio of inventory versus need forcookies would be 3:10 or 30%. Accordingly, cookies (e.g., “7 COOKIE”)would be displayed on the oven cook list 70B′ as having higher priority(e.g., above) biscuits (e.g., “5 BISC”). This is illustrated in the cooklist 70B′ shown in FIG. 14 . In general, food types having smallerinventory versus need (e.g., expressed as percentage or fraction) areranked higher in priority on the cook list than food types havinggreater inventory versus need. It will be understood that the ratio ofinventory versus need can also be expressed as need versus inventory, inwhich case the food types having higher need versus inventory would beranked higher in priority on the cook list than food types having lesserneed versus inventory. Moreover, it will be understood priority can bedetermined as a function of inventory and need in other ways withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. For example, factors,parameters, and/or multipliers in addition to the ratio can be includedin determining priority, and the ratio can account for or be a functionof other factors, parameters, and/or multipliers.

The ratio of inventory versus need of a particular food type may changeover time, and the cook lists may be updated to reflect the changedpriority. The tangible storage medium 44 can store the cook list andpriority information (e.g., in data structures), and the controller 42can update the priority information and modify the cook listaccordingly. Continuing with the example from above, if thepoint-of-sale device 24 indicates to the control system 40 that acustomer has recently ordered two cookies, the inventory of the cookieswill be updated to 1 cookie (2 less cookies than before). The foodamount indicator 80C on the holding location display 80 associated withthe holding location holding cookies from which they are being served(e.g., the primary holding location) would be updated to 1 from 3.Accordingly, the ratio of inventory to need of cookies would reduce to10%, meaning there would be increased priority to cook cookies. If theupdated inventory to need of cookies changed the relative priority onthe cook list 70B′ (e.g., relative to rolls at 20%), cookies would movehigher on the oven cook list (e.g., “9 COOKIE”), as shown in FIG. 15 .On the other hand, if the inventory of cookies increased (e.g., 6cookies were baked and supplied to the food holding apparatus 20, asindicated to the control system 40 by the employee using the userinterface 46 or specifically the touch screen display 64), the decreasedpriority for preparing cookies may move it lower on the cook list 70B′.If the amount of a particular food type in inventory is less than theamount of that food type currently ordered by customers, that food typemay be indicated with particular importance to the employees to becooked (e.g., on top of the cook list, flashing, bolded, underlined, orhighlighted, etc.). For example, FIG. 16 illustrates emphasis forcooking “10 COOKIE,” which is bolded, underlined, and highlighted.Moreover, what is considered to be in inventory may be updated toaccount for hold time remaining and/or cook time for that particularfood type. For example, if 10 cookies are needed, and the control system40 indicates 3 cookies are in inventory, but the hold time remaining forthe 3 cookies is less than the time required to cook new cookies, the“inventory” of cookies for purposes of the inventory versus need ratiomay be considered to be 0. Accordingly, the ratio would be 0% when theremaining hold time is less than the time required to cook new cookies,and the cookies (e.g., “10 COOKIE”) may move higher on the oven cooklist 70B′ and/or be emphasized as having high priority (e.g., on top ofthe cook list, flashing, bolded, underlined, or highlighted, etc.), asshown in FIG. 16 . Moreover, as time elapses, the amount of food of aparticular food type needed to fill expected orders may change, whichcould accordingly affect the inventory versus need ratio.

If desired, a food type listed on the cook list 70B′ may be “held” or“locked” in position (priority) on the list by user engagement (e.g.,tapping, long holding, etc.) the associated line item (e.g., the foodtype indicator) on the cook list. For example, if the particular foodtype is currently being cooked, it may be desirable to hold its positionon the cook list until cooking of food of that food type is finished andthe cooked food is supplied to the food holding apparatus 20. After foodis cooked and supplied to the food holding apparatus 20, the controlsystem 40 knows cooking of the food has finished, based on entry of thefood into a holding location (from an employee using the touch screendisplay 64 to enter the food into a holding location). In response, thecontrol system 40 may reduce the amount of that food type shown on thecook list as needing to be cooked or remove it from the cook list, asnecessary.

It will be appreciated that features of the cook list 70B′ describedabove can be applied to types of food processing other than cooking. Forexample, a prioritized food type list similar to the cook list 70B′ canbe used for identifying and listing food types to be processed (in otherways than cooking) in order of determined priority. Food processing caninclude thawing, cutting, portioning, moving, assembling, packaging,holding, and/or other types of processing. The priority for processing aparticular food type can be determined as a function of an amount offood of that food type in inventory and an amount of that food typeneeded to be processed, exactly as described above with respect toprocessing by cooking. The priority for food types on the prioritizedfood type list can be updated, and the order of the food types on theprioritized food type list can be changed based on the updateddetermined priority. Any of the features described above with respect tothe cook list could be applied to the prioritized food type list.

FIG. 17 illustrates a second embodiment of a screen (graphic interface)that may be displayed on the user interface 46 (e.g., the touch screendisplay 64) for use with the control system 40. The second embodiment isvery similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3-13 and described above,and like parts are designated with like reference numbers, plus 200. Itwill be understood the second embodiment can function essentially thesame as described above with respect to the first embodiment andincludes features described hereafter.

As with the previous embodiment, the view shown in FIG. 17 includes aleft side cook list section 270 indicating food to be cooked, and aright side food holding apparatus status indication section 272 showingstatus of holding locations 36. The food holding apparatus statusindication section 272 includes an array of holding location displays280. Active holding location displays 280 include food type indicators280A, and holding location displays representing holding locations wherefood is held additionally include hold time indicators 280B and foodamount indicators 280C. The holding location displays 280 also includebuttons 289. In this embodiment, colors are used on the holding locationdisplays 280 as explained with respect to the first embodiment toindicate statuses such as “no food present,” “food present,” “foodsuitable for serving,” “food to be served first,” “food to be servedsecond,” and “food expired or to be discarded.” In this embodiment,colors are displayed in the background of the holding compartmentdisplays 280. For example, referring to the “COOKIE” holding locationdisplays 280, the upper cookie holding location is indicated by a yellowor amber colored holding location display background (serve second), andthe lower cookie holding location is indicated by a green holdinglocation display background (serve first). Referring to the lower“STRIPS” holding location display 280, it is shown as having a redholding location display background (expired). The color convention isthe same as described above to indicate to a user that food is presentat the holding locations and whether it should be served first, second,or discarded. Referring again to the lower “STRIPS” holding locationdisplay 280, the food amount indicator 280C is an “X” representing nofood amount held suitable for serving. The hold time indicator 280Bshows “−00:02” representing two seconds of discard delay time haveaccrued. The hold time indicator 280B will count up (in negative time)to provide a continuously updated indication of “hold time,” and in thiscase the hold time represents how long the food at the holding locationhas been expired without being discarded.

The second embodiment also includes primary (default destination)holding location indicators 282 that serve the same purpose as theindicators 82 described above with respect to the first embodiment. Theprimary holding location indicators 282 distinguish the holdinglocations as primary holding locations and desirably also defaultdestination holding locations for default transfers. In this embodiment,the holding location indicators 282 are provided in the form of anasterisk. It will be understood other indicators such as other symbolscan be used without departing form the scope of the present invention.In this embodiment, the primary holding location indicators 282 are notdisplayed on the respective holding location displays 280 when theholding location display indicates the holding location is holding food.When food is held in the a primary holding location, presumably therespective food holding location display 280 indicates the status asbeing “serve first” because the longest held (or soonest to expire) foodwould be present in that holding location. This serves as sufficientindication to the employee to serve from the primary holding location.For example, the left “FISH” holding location display 280 represents theprimary holding location for fish and would display a primary holdinglocation status indicator if not indicating that the holding location isholding food (food amount indicator 280C representing “1”, hold timeindicator 280B representing “00:08” remaining before expiration, greenbackground indicating “serve first”).

The cook list section 270 includes a plurality of cook lists 270A, 270B,270C, 270D corresponding to different cooking devices including thefryers broiler 18, fryers 12, ovens 10, and microwave 14. The food typesto be cooked are indicated by a food type indicator such as a full orabbreviated name of the type of food (e.g., “SM BRG” for small burgerpatties, “LG BRG” for large burger patties, etc. and an amount of thatfood type to be cooked (e.g., “10” for “SM BRG,” “6” for “LG BRG”),which together may be referred to as a line item. It will be appreciatedthat the cook lists 270A-270D have the same prioritizing features asdescribed above with respect to the cook list 70B′ of FIGS. 14-16 . Foodtypes listed on the cook lists 270A-270D are listed in order ofdetermined priority (e.g., function of inventory and need), the priorityfor each food type can be updated, and the food types can be held orlocked in position (priority) on the cook list, all as described above.In this embodiment, food types locked on the cook lists are indicated bylock indicators 295, which can be lock symbols, as shown in theillustrated embodiment on the Broiler cook list 270A for the food type“SM BRG” and the food type “LG BRG.” Other lock indicators, such asother symbols, may be used without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. The numbers shown in the lock symbols 295 representan amount of food of the respective food type currently ordered (recentunfilled customer order) for which there is no food in inventory. Thosenumbers, along with red coloring of the lock symbol 295 and food typeline item serves to emphasize the importance of cooking the food type tothe user. Moreover, locking of a food type may cause that food type tomove to the highest priority position on the cook list (e.g., the top ofthe list) if the food type is not already at the highest priorityposition. When a food type is locked on the cook list, the controller 42may log in the tangible storage medium a record indicating cooking ofthat food type (e.g., the amount shown on the cook list) has begun. Thismay be helpful to the controller 42 in monitoring inventory of food.

The Title, Field of Invention, and Background are provided to help thereader quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. Theyare submitted with the understanding that they will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. They are providedto introduce a selection of concepts in simplified form that are furtherdescribed in the Detailed Description. The Title, Field of Invention,and Background are not intended to identify key features or essentialfeatures of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used asan aid in determining the claimed subject matter.

For purposes of illustration, programs and other executable programcomponents, such as the operating system, are illustrated herein asdiscrete blocks. It is recognized, however, that such programs andcomponents reside at various times in different storage components of acomputing device, and are executed by a data processor(s) of the device.

Although described in connection with an exemplary computing systemenvironment, embodiments of the aspects of the invention are operationalwith numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations. The computing system environment is notintended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of any aspect of the invention. Moreover, the computingsystem environment should not be interpreted as having any dependency orrequirement relating to any one or combination of components illustratedin the exemplary operating environment. Examples of well-known computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable foruse with aspects of the invention include, but are not limited to,personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes,programmable consumer electronics, mobile telephones, network PCs,minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environmentsthat include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Embodiments of the aspects of the invention may be described in thegeneral context of data and/or processor-executable instructions, suchas program modules, stored one or more tangible, non-transitory storagemedia and executed by one or more processors or other devices.Generally, program modules include, but are not limited to, routines,programs, objects, components, and data structures that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Aspects ofthe invention may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotestorage media including memory storage devices.

In operation, processors, computers and/or servers may execute theprocessor-executable instructions (e.g., software, firmware, and/orhardware) such as those illustrated herein to implement aspects of theinvention.

Embodiments of the aspects of the invention may be implemented withprocessor-executable instructions. The processor-executable instructionsmay be organized into one or more processor-executable components ormodules on a tangible processor readable storage medium. Aspects of theinvention may be implemented with any number and organization of suchcomponents or modules. For example, aspects of the invention are notlimited to the specific processor-executable instructions or thespecific components or modules illustrated in the figures and describedherein. Other embodiments of the aspects of the invention may includedifferent processor-executable instructions or components having more orless functionality than illustrated and described herein.

The order of execution or performance of the operations in embodimentsof the aspects of the invention illustrated and described herein is notessential, unless otherwise specified. That is, the operations may beperformed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and embodiments ofthe aspects of the invention may include additional or fewer operationsthan those disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated thatexecuting or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneouslywith, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of theinvention.

When introducing elements of aspects of the invention or the embodimentsthereof, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to meanthat there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,”“including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean thatthere may be additional elements other than the listed elements.

In view of the above, it will be seen that several advantages of theaspects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous resultsattained.

Not all of the depicted components illustrated or described may berequired. In addition, some implementations and embodiments may includeadditional components. Variations in the arrangement and type of thecomponents may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of theclaims as set forth herein. Additional, different or fewer componentsmay be provided and components may be combined. Alternatively or inaddition, a component may be implemented by several components.

The above description illustrates the aspects of the invention by way ofexample and not by way of limitation. This description enables oneskilled in the art to make and use the aspects of the invention, anddescribes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives anduses of the aspects of the invention, including what is presentlybelieved to be the best mode of carrying out the aspects of theinvention. Additionally, it is to be understood that the aspects of theinvention is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangement of components set forth in thedescription or illustrated in the drawings. The aspects of the inventionare capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried outin various ways. Also, it will be understood that the phraseology andterminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should notbe regarded as limiting.

Having described aspects of the invention in detail, it will be apparentthat modifications and variations are possible without departing fromthe scope of aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims.It is contemplated that various changes could be made in the aboveconstructions, products, and methods without departing from the scope ofaspects of the invention. In the preceding specification, variousembodiments have been described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. It will, however, be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may beimplemented, without departing from the broader scope of the aspects ofthe invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specificationand drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan restrictive sense.

OTHER STATEMENTS OF INVENTION

The following are statements of invention described in the presentapplication. Although some of the following statements are not currentlypresented as claims, the statements are believed to be patentable andmay subsequently be presented as claims. Associated methods, such asmethods corresponding to statements of apparatus or systems below, arealso believed to be patentable and may subsequently be presented asclaims.

A1. A food management control system for managing food in a food holdingapparatus, said food holding apparatus having a plurality of foodholding locations including at least an origin holding location and adestination holding location for receiving food transferred from theorigin location, the food management control system including

a food management controller configured for managing an inventory offood and monitoring hold times associated with the food holdinglocations including the origin and destination holding locations, and

a tangible storage medium storing a data structure identifying a holdtime as being associated with the origin holding location, the tangiblestorage medium including food management controller executableinstructions stored therein, said instructions, when executed by thefood management controller, identifying the destination holding locationas a default destination holding location among the plurality of foodholding locations, the tangible storage medium including food managementcontroller executable instructions for executing a default transfer inwhich the food management controller modifies the data structure toidentify the hold time as being associated with the default destinationholding location.

A2. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 furthercomprising an origin holding location display associated with the originholding location and a destination holding location display associatedwith the destination holding location, wherein the tangible storagemedium includes food management controller executable instructions for,before the default transfer, displaying on the origin holding locationdisplay a food status indicator representative of the hold time, andfood management controller executable instructions for, after thedefault transfer, displaying on the default destination holding locationdisplay a food status indicator representative of the transferred holdtime.

A3. A food management control system as set forth in claim A2 whereinthe food status indicator displayed on the destination holding locationdisplay includes a timer representative of the hold time.

A4. A food management control system as set forth in claim A2 whereinthe food status indicator displayed on the destination holding locationdisplay includes a color representative of the hold time.

A5. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 furthercomprising a user interface including holding location displaysassociated with respective food holding locations including the originholding location and destination holding location, wherein the holdinglocation displays are arranged in an array corresponding to anarrangement of the holding locations, and the origin holding locationdisplay and destination holding location display are positioned in thearray corresponding to positions of the respective origin anddestination holding locations in the arrangement.

A6. A food management control system as set forth in claim A5 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying a default destination holdinglocation indicator on the holding location display associated with theholding location identified in the identifying instructions as thedefault destination holding location to visually distinguish to a usersaid holding location as the default destination holding location.

A7. A food management control system as set forth in claim A5 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying food type indicators on theholding location displays for indicating a type of food to be held atthe holding locations.

A8. A food management control system as set forth in claim A7 whereinthe food type indicators displayed on the holding location displaysassociated with the origin and destination holding locations indicatethe same type of food is to be held at the origin and destinationholding locations.

A9. A food management control system as set forth in claim A5 whereinthe user interface comprises a touch screen display, and the holdinglocation displays associated with the origin and destination holdinglocations are sections of the touch screen display.

A10. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 whereinthe destination holding location is a first destination holding locationand the holding apparatus further comprises a second destination holdinglocation, the identifying instructions identifying the first destinationholding location and not the second destination holding location as thedefault destination holding location among the first and seconddestination holding locations.

A11. A food management control system as set forth in claim A10 furthercomprising a user interface including holding location displaysassociated with respective ones of the first and second destinationholding locations, wherein the tangible storage medium includes foodmanagement controller executable instructions for displaying a food typeindicator on the holding location displays to indicate a type of food tobe held at the holding locations, and wherein the food type indicatorsdisplayed on the holding location displays associated with the first andsecond destination holding locations indicate the same type of food isto be held at the first and second destination holding locations.

A12. A food management control system as set forth in claim A10 furthercomprising a user interface configured for receiving user input, andwherein the food management controller is responsive to user input tochange the identifying instructions to identify the second destinationholding location as the default destination holding location instead ofthe first destination holding location.

A13. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 furthercomprising a user interface configured for receiving user input, andwherein the food management controller is responsive to user input toinitiate the default transfer.

A14. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 whereinthe food holding apparatus includes a sensor configured for sensingwhether food is present in the origin holding location, and the tangiblestorage medium includes food management controller executableinstructions for initiating the default transfer as a function of asignal from said sensor.

A15. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 whereinthe food holding apparatus includes a sensor configured for sensingwhether food is present in the destination holding location identifiedin the identifying instructions as the default holding location, and thetangible storage medium includes food management controller executableinstructions for initiating the default transfer as a function of asignal from said sensor indicating no food is held in the defaultdestination holding location.

A16. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 furthercomprising a user interface configured for receiving user input, andwherein the tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable override instructions responsive to user input designating adifferent holding location than the default holding location as thedestination holding location for a selected transfer and wherein theidentifying instructions identify the default holding location as theonly destination holding location unless the override instructions havebeen executed prior to execution of the identifying instructions.

A17. A food management control system as set forth in claim A1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes a second data structure identifyingan amount of food as being associated with the origin holding location,the food management controller being configured for monitoring theamount of food held at the origin holding location, the food managementcontroller being configured to, in the default transfer, modify thesecond data structure to identify the amount of food as being associatedwith the default destination holding location and configured tothereafter monitor the amount of food held at the default destinationholding location.

A18. A food management control system as set forth in claim A17 furthercomprising an origin holding location display associated with the originholding location and a destination holding location display associatedwith the destination holding location, wherein the tangible storagemedium includes food management controller executable instructions for,before the default transfer, displaying on the origin holding locationdisplay an indicator representative of the amount of food held at theorigin holding location, and food management controller executableinstructions for, after the default transfer, displaying on thedestination holding location display a food status indicatorrepresentative of the transferred amount of food.

A19. A food management system including the food management controlsystem as set forth in claim A1 in combination with the food holdingapparatus having the plurality of food holding locations including theorigin holding location and the destination holding location.

AM1. A computer executable method for use with food holding apparatushaving a plurality of food holding locations including at least anorigin holding location and a destination holding location to which foodfrom the origin holding location can be transferred, the methodincluding:

storing a data structure in a tangible storage medium identifying a holdtime as being associated with the origin holding location,

monitoring, with a food management controller, the hold time associatedwith the origin holding location,

referencing, with the food management controller, instructions stored inthe tangible storage medium identifying a holding location among theplurality of the holding locations as a default holding location forreceiving the hold time in a default transfer,

executing, with the food management controller, instructions stored inthe tangible storage medium to execute the default transfer includingmodifying the data structure to identify the hold time as beingassociated with the default destination holding location.

B1. A food management control system for managing food in a food holdingapparatus, said food holding apparatus having at least a first holdinglocation and a second holding location, the food management controlsystem including

a food management controller configured for monitoring hold timesassociated with the first and second holding locations,

a user interface including at least first and second holding locationdisplays for displaying information associated with the respective firstand second holding locations, the first and second holding locationdisplays being arranged in an array corresponding to an arrangement ofthe respective first and second holding locations, and the first andsecond holding location displays being positioned in the arraycorresponding to positions of the respective first and second holdinglocations in the arrangement, and

a tangible storage medium storing a data structure identifying the firstholding location as a primary holding location, the tangible storagemedium having food management controller executable instructions storedtherein, said instructions, when executed by the food managementcontroller, displaying a primary holding location indicator on the firstholding location display for distinguishing the first holding locationfrom the second holding location as the primary holding location, theprimary holding location indicator indicating to a user to place food atthe first holding location instead of the second holding location whenthe first and second holding locations are not holding food and totransfer food from the second holding location to the first holdinglocation if the first holding location is not holding food.

B2. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe primary holding location indicator is not representative of a lengthof food hold time.

B3. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinwhen the first and second food holding locations are active and notholding food the holding location displays have substantially the sameappearance except for the primary holding location indicatordistinguishing the first holding location from the second holdinglocation.

B4. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe primary holding location indicator is a symbol.

B5. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe user interface comprises a touch screen display and the first andsecond holding location displays are sections of the touch screendisplay.

B6. A food management control system as set forth in claim B5 whereinthe first and second holding location displays include outlinesrepresenting the respective first and second holding locations, and theprimary holding location indicator is displayed in the outline of thefirst holding location display.

B7. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe first holding location display is positioned at a bottom left sideof said array.

B8. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying on the first and second holdinglocation displays food status indicators representative of hold timesassociated with the respective first and second hold times.

B9. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying a food type indicator on theholding location displays for indicating a type of food to be held atthe holding locations.

B10. A food management control system as set forth in claim B9 whereinthe food type indicators displayed on the holding location displaysindicate the same type of food is to be held at the first and secondholding locations.

B11. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying on the first and second holdinglocation displays food status indicators representative of whether foodheld at the respective holding location should be served first relativeto food held at another holding location, whether food stored at therespective holding location should be served second relative to foodheld at another holding location, and whether food stored at therespective holding location is expired.

B12. A food management control system as set forth in claim B11 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying on the first holding locationdisplay a status indicator representative of no food being held at thefirst holding location, and the tangible storage medium includes foodmanagement controller executable instructions for initiating a transferof food from the second holding location to the first holding locationwhen the second holding location display displays the status indicatorrepresenting food held at the second holding location should be servedfirst relative to food held at another holding location and the firstholding location display displays the status indicator representative ofno food being held at the first holding location.

B13. A food management control system as set forth in claim B11 whereinthe food holding apparatus includes a sensor configured for sensingwhether food is present in the first holding location, and the tangiblestorage medium includes food management controller executableinstructions for initiating a transfer of food from the second holdinglocation to the first holding location when the second holding locationdisplay displays the status indicator representing food held at thesecond holding location should be served first relative to food held atanother holding location and as a function of a signal from said sensorindicating no food is held at the first holding location.

B14. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe user interface is configured for receiving user input to inform thefood management controller the user is placing food at the secondholding location, and wherein the tangible storage medium includes foodmanagement controller executable instructions responsive to user inputfor prompting the user to place the food at the first holding locationif the user attempts to place the food at the second holding locationand no food is held at the first holding location.

B15. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying on the first holding locationdisplay a food held status indicator representative of food being heldat the first holding location, and the tangible storage medium includesfood management controller executable instructions for not displayingthe primary holding location indicator on the first holding locationdisplay when the food held status indicator is displayed on the firstholding location display.

B16. A food management control system as set forth in claim B1 whereinthe user interface is configured for receiving user input, and whereinthe food management controller is responsive to user input to modify thedata structure to identify the second holding location as the primaryholding location, and wherein the food management controller isresponsive thereto to display the primary holding location indicator onthe second holding location display instead of the first holdinglocation display.

C1. A restaurant food management control system for managing aninventory of cooked food, the restaurant food management control systemincluding

a user interface for displaying a cook list of food types to be cookedfor adding to the inventory of cooked food,

a food management controller configured for managing the inventory ofcooked food, monitoring a need for cooked food, and determining foodtypes needed to be cooked,

a tangible storage medium storing the cook list, the tangible storagemedium having food management controller executable instructions storedtherein, said instructions, when executed by the food managementcontroller, determining a priority for each food type on the cook listas a function of an amount of food of that food type in the inventoryand an amount of food of that food type needed to be cooked, and thetangible storage medium storing food management controller executableinstructions, when executed by the food management controller, modifyingthe cook list to arrange the food types on the cook list in order of thedetermined priority.

C2. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C1wherein the tangible storage medium stores a data structure, the datastructure including the determined priority for each food type on thecook list, the tangible storage medium having food management controllerexecutable instructions for modifying the second data structure withupdated determined priority for each food type on the cook list and forchanging the order of the food types on the cook list based on theupdated determined priority.

C3. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C2wherein the tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for locking a food type in position on the cooklist to hold the food type in position on the cook list.

C4. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C1wherein the tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for determining the priority for each food typeon the cook list as a function of a ratio including an amount of food ofthat food type in the inventory and an amount of food of that food typeneeded to be cooked.

C5. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C1wherein the tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for determining the priority for each food typeon the cook list as a function of a ratio of an amount of food of thatfood type in the inventory to an amount of food of that food type neededto be cooked.

C6. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C1wherein the food management controller is configured for monitoring anamount of each food type held in inventory at a plurality of holdinglocations of a holding apparatus, and the tangible storage mediumincludes food management controller executable instructions fordetermining inventory of cooked food as a function of the amount ofcooked food at the plurality of holding locations.

C7. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C1wherein the tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for determining the need for cooked food as afunction of forecasted customer orders.

C8. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C7further comprising a point of sale device for receiving customer orders,the point of sale device being in operative communication with the foodmanagement controller, and wherein the tangible storage medium includesfood management controller executable instructions for determining theneed for cooked food as a function of recent unfilled customer orders.

C9. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claim C1further comprising a point of sale device for receiving customer ordersin operative communication with the food management controller, andwherein the food management controller determines the need for cookedfood as a function of recent unfilled customer orders.

C10. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC9 wherein when the food management controller determines unfilledcustomer orders for a food type outnumber the amount of food of thatfood type in inventory, the food management controller emphasizes thatfood type on the cook list with increased importance relative to theother food types on the cook list.

C11. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC1 wherein the cook list displays amounts of each food type to becooked.

C12. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC1 wherein the tangible storage medium includes food managementcontroller executable instructions for locking a food type in positionon the cook list to hold the food type in position on the cook list.

C13. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC12 wherein the user interface is configured for receiving user input,and the food management controller is responsive to user input to lock aselected food type on the cook list.

C14. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC13 wherein the tangible storage medium includes food managementcontroller executable instructions for moving a food type selected bythe user to a highest priority position on the cook list if the foodtype was not already at the highest priority position.

C15. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC13 wherein the user interface is a touch screen display, and the foodmanagement controller is responsive to the touch of a user on the touchscreen display selecting a food type on the cook list for locking theselected food type.

C16. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC12 wherein the tangible storage medium includes food managementcontroller executable instructions for displaying a lock indicator onthe cook list associated with a locked food type.

C17. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC16 wherein each food type on the cook list is indicated on the cooklist by a line item including at least one of text and an imagerepresenting the food type, and wherein the lock indicator includes asymbol adjacent the line item.

C18. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC16 wherein the food management controller unlocks a locked food type onthe cook list as a function of a food inventory signal representing anamount of the locked food type has been added to inventory.

C19. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC18 wherein the user interface is configured for receiving user inputfor generating the food inventory signal.

C20. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC19 wherein the user interface includes a plurality of holding locationdisplays associated with respective holding locations of a holdingapparatus for holding cooked food in the inventory, the holding locationdisplays being configured for receiving user input representing anamount of the locked food type has been added to one of the plurality ofholding locations for generating the food inventory signal.

C21. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC18 further comprising a sensor associated with a holding location ofholding apparatus for holding cooked food of the locked food type in theinventory, the sensor being configured for generating the food inventorysignal in response to detecting food supplied to the holding location.

C22. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC12 wherein in response to a food type being locked on the cook list thefood management controller records a record in the tangible storagemedium representing cooking of that food type has begun.

C23. A restaurant food management control system as set forth in claimC22 wherein the cook list displays amounts of each food type to becooked, and the record recorded by the food management controller in thetangible storage medium includes the amount of food of the locked foodtype.

CA1. A food management control system for managing an inventory ofprocessed food, the food management control system including

a user interface for displaying a prioritized food type list of foodtypes to be processed for adding to the inventory of processed food,

a food management controller configured for managing the inventory ofprocessed food, monitoring a need for processed food, and determiningfood types needed to be processed,

a tangible storage medium storing the prioritized food type list, thetangible storage medium having food management controller executableinstructions stored therein, said instructions, when executed by thefood management controller, determining a priority for each food type onthe prioritized food type list as a function of an amount of food ofthat food type in the inventory and an amount of food of that food typeneeded to be processed, and the tangible storage medium storing foodmanagement controller executable instructions for modifying theprioritized food type list to arrange the food types on the prioritizedfood type list in order of the determined priority.

D1. A food management system for managing food in a food holdingapparatus having a plurality of holding locations, the food managementsystem including

a food management controller configured for monitoring a status of theplurality of holding locations,

a user interface including a plurality of holding location displaysassociated with respective holding locations for displaying informationassociated with the holding locations, the holding location displaysbeing arranged in an array corresponding to an arrangement of therespective holding locations, the holding location displays beingpositioned in the array corresponding to positions of the respectiveholding locations in the arrangement, each holding location displayincluding a touch sensitive area defining a button that can be actuatedby at least a first type of user engagement with the button,

a tangible storage medium having food management controller executableinstructions stored therein, said instructions, when executed by thefood management controller, displaying on each holding location displayinformation associated with the status of the respective holdinglocation, the tangible storage medium storing food management controllerexecutable instructions for executing a first operation in response tothe first type of user engagement with the button when a first holdinglocation status is displayed on the holding location display and forexecuting a second operation different than the first operation inresponse to the first type of user engagement with the button when asecond holding location status is displayed on the holding locationdisplay.

D2. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe first displayed holding location status represents no food is heldat the holding location.

D3. A food management control system as set forth in claim D2 whereinthe first operation executed by the first engagement is the foodmanagement processor recording in the tangible storage medium an amountof food as being held at the respective holding location.

D4. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe second displayed holding location status represents food is held atthe holding location.

D5. A food management control system as set forth in claim D4 whereinthe second operation executed by the first engagement is the foodmanagement processor transferring association of an amount of food heldat the holding location to a different holding location.

D6. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe second displayed holding location status represents an expired holdtime associated with the respective holding location.

D7. A food management control system as set forth in claim D6 whereinthe second operation executed by the first engagement is the foodmanagement processor changing the holding location status to representno food is held at the holding location.

D8. A food management control system as set forth in claim D6 whereinthe operation executed by the first engagement is the food managementprocessor recording as waste in the tangible storage medium an amount offood last held at the holding location.

D9. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for executing a third operation in response tothe first type of user engagement with the button when a third holdinglocation status is displayed on the holding location display.

D10. A food management control system as set forth in claim D9 whereinthe third displayed holding location status represents an expired holdtime associated with the respective holding location.

D11. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe button includes a boundary substantially coextensive with theholding location display.

D12. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe button includes a boundary indicated on the holding location displayby a border.

D13. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe holding location display displays information representative of thestatus of the holding location in the touch sensitive area of theholding location display defining the button.

D14. A food management control system as set forth in claim D13 whereinan appearance of the button when the first holding location status isdisplayed on the holding location display is substantially the same asan appearance of the button when the second holding location status isdisplayed on the holding location display except for updating ofdisplayed information representative of the status of the holdinglocation in the touch sensitive area of the holding location displaydefining the button.

D15. A food management control system as set forth in claim D13 whereinthe holding location display displays at least one indicatorrepresentative of status of the respective holding location in the touchsensitive area of the holding location display defining the button, theat least one indicator including at least one of a food amount indicatorrepresenting an amount of food held at the respective holding location,a food hold time indicator representing a time food has been held at therespective holding location, and a food type indicator indicating a typeof food held at the respective holding location.

D16. A food management control system as set forth in claim D13 whereinthe holding location display displays at least two indicatorsrepresentative of a status of the respective holding location in thetouch sensitive area of the holding location display defining thebutton, the at least two indicators including at least two of a foodamount indicator representing an amount of food held at the respectiveholding location, a food hold time indicator representing a time foodhas been held at the respective holding location, and a food typeindicator indicating a type of food held at the respective holdinglocation.

D17. A food management control system as set forth in claim D13 whereinthe holding location display displays at least three indicatorsrepresentative of status of the respective holding location in the touchsensitive area of the holding location display defining the button, theat least three indicators including a food amount indicator representingan amount of food held at the respective holding location, a food holdtime indicator representing a time food has been held at the respectiveholding location, and a food type indicator indicating a type of foodheld at the respective holding location.

D18. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe holding location display displays only information representative ofthe status of the holding location in the touch sensitive area of theholding location display defining the button.

D19. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe touch sensitive area of the holding location display defining thebutton is free of any indicator indicating an operation executed inresponse to the first type of user engagement with the button.

D20. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe first type of user engagement is a single engagement with thebutton.

D21. A food management control system as set forth in claim D20 whereinthe first type of user engagement with the button is a sustained pressof the button.

D22. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe button can be actuated by a second type of user engagement with thebutton different than the first type of user engagement with the button,and wherein the tangible storage medium includes food managementcontroller executable instructions for executing a third operation inresponse to the second type of user engagement with the button.

D23. A food management control system as set forth in claim D22 whereinthe second type of user engagement with the button is a quick tap andrelease of the button.

D24. A food management control system as set forth in claim D1 whereinthe user interface includes a touch screen display, and the plurality ofholding location displays are sections of the touch screen display.

DM1. A computer executable method for use with food holding apparatushaving a plurality of holding locations, the method including

providing a user interface including a plurality of holding locationdisplays associated with respective holding locations for displayinginformation associated with the holding locations, the holding locationdisplays being arranged in an array corresponding to an arrangement ofthe respective holding locations, the holding location displays beingpositioned in the array corresponding to positions of the respectiveholding locations in the arrangement, each holding location displayincluding a touch sensitive area defining a button that can be actuatedby at least a first type of user engagement with the button,

displaying on each holding location display information associated withthe status of the respective holding location,

executing, with a food management controller, a first operation inresponse to the first type of user engagement with the button when afirst holding location status is displayed on the holding locationdisplay, and

executing, with the food management controller, a second operationdifferent than the first operation in response to the first type of userengagement with the button when a second holding location status isdisplayed on the holding location display.

E1. A food management control system for managing food in a food holdingapparatus having a plurality of holding locations, the food managementcontrol system including

a food management controller configured for monitoring status of theplurality of holding locations,

a user interface including a plurality of holding location displaysassociated with respective holding locations for displaying informationassociated with the holding locations, the holding location displaysbeing arranged in an array corresponding to an arrangement of therespective holding locations and positioned in the array correspondingto positions of the respective first and second holding locations in thearrangement, each holding location display including a touch sensitivearea defining a button that can be actuated by at least a first type ofuser engagement with the button and a second type of user engagementwith the button different than the first type of user engagement withthe button,

a tangible storage medium having food management controller executableinstructions stored therein, said instructions, when executed by thefood management controller, displaying on each holding location displayinformation associated with the status of the respective holdinglocation, the tangible storage medium storing food management controllerexecutable instructions for executing a first operation in response tothe first type of user engagement with the button and for executing asecond operation different than the first operation in response to thesecond type of user engagement with the button.

E2. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe first type of user engagement is a single engagement with thebutton.

E3. A food management control system as set forth in claim E2 whereinthe first type of user engagement with the button is a quick tap andrelease of the button.

E4. A food management control system as set forth in claim E2 whereinthe second type of user engagement is a single engagement with thebutton.

E5. A food management control system as set forth in claim E4 whereinthe second type of user engagement with the button is a sustained pressof the button.

E6. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe first operation executed by the first type of engagement with thebutton is displaying a prompt window on the user interface, the promptwindow including a plurality of buttons.

E7. A food management control system as set forth in claim E6 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor recording in the tangiblestorage medium an amount of food as being held at the respective holdinglocation.

E8. A food management control system as set forth in claim E6 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor transferring association ofan amount of food held at the holding location to a different holdinglocation.

E9. A food management control system as set forth in claim E6 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor changing the holdinglocation status to represent no food is held at the holding location.

E10. A food management control system as set forth in claim E6 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor changing the holdinglocation status to represent food is held at the holding location.

E11. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor recording in the tangiblestorage medium an amount of food as being held at the respective holdinglocation.

E12. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor transferring association ofan amount of food held at the holding location to a different holdinglocation.

E13. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor changing the holdinglocation status to represent no food is held at the holding location.

E14. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe second operation executed by the second type of user engagement withthe button is the food management processor changing the holdinglocation status to represent food is held at the holding location.

E15. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe button includes a boundary substantially coextensive with theholding location display.

E16. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe button includes a boundary indicated on the holding location displayby a border.

E17. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe holding location display displays information representative of thestatus of the holding location in the touch sensitive area of theholding location display defining the button.

E18. A food management control system as set forth in claim E17 whereinan appearance of the button when the first holding location status isdisplayed on the holding location display is substantially the same asan appearance of the button when the second holding location status isdisplayed on the holding location display except for updating ofdisplayed information representative of the status of the holdinglocation in the touch sensitive area of the holding location displaydefining the button.

E19. A food management control system as set forth in claim E17 whereinthe holding location display displays at least one indicatorrepresentative of status of the respective holding location in the touchsensitive area of the holding location display defining the button, theat least one indicator including at least one of a food amount indicatorrepresenting an amount of food held at the respective holding location,a food hold time indicator representing a time food has been held at therespective holding location, and a food type indicator indicating a typeof food held at the respective holding location.

E20. A food management control system as set forth in claim E17 whereinthe holding location display displays at least two indicatorsrepresentative of status of the respective holding location in the touchsensitive area of the holding location display defining the button, theat least two indicators including at least two of a food amountindicator representing an amount of food held at the respective holdinglocation, a food hold time indicator representing a time food has beenheld at the respective holding location, and a food type indicatorindicating a type of food held at the respective holding location.

E21. A food management control system as set forth in claim E17 whereinthe holding location display displays at least three indicatorsrepresentative of status of the respective holding location in the touchsensitive area of the holding location display defining the button, theat least three indicators including a food amount indicator representingan amount of food held at the respective holding location, a food holdtime indicator representing a time food has been held at the respectiveholding location, and a food type indicator indicating a type of foodheld at the respective holding location.

E22. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe holding location display displays only information representative ofthe status of the holding location in the touch sensitive area of theholding location display defining the button.

E23. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe touch sensitive area of the holding location display defining thebutton is free of any indicator indicating an operation executed inresponse to the first type of user engagement with the button.

E24. A food management control system as set forth in claim E1 whereinthe user interface includes a touch screen display, and the plurality ofholding location displays are sections of the touch screen display.

EM1. A computer executable method for use with a food holding apparatushaving a plurality of holding locations, the method including

providing a user interface including a plurality of holding locationdisplays associated with respective holding locations for displayinginformation associated with the holding locations, the holding locationdisplays being arranged in an array corresponding to an arrangement ofthe respective holding locations and positioned in the arraycorresponding to positions of the respective first and second holdinglocations in the arrangement, each holding location display including atouch sensitive area defining a button that can be actuated by at leasta first type of user engagement with the button and a second type ofuser engagement with the button different than the first type of userengagement with the button,

displaying on each holding location display information associated withthe status of the respective holding location,

executing, with a food management controller, a first operation inresponse to the first type of user engagement with the button, and

executing, with the food management controller, a second operationdifferent than the first operation in response to the second type ofuser engagement with the button.

F1. A food management control system for managing food in a food holdingapparatus having at least a first holding location and a second holdinglocation for holding food of a first food type, the food managementcontrol system including

a food management controller configured for monitoring food expirationtimes associated with the first and second holding locations,

a point of sale device for receiving customer orders, the point of saledevice generating a customer order signal representative of a customerorder for an amount of the first food type,

a user interface including at least first and second holding locationdisplays for displaying information associated with the respective firstand second holding locations,

a tangible storage medium having food management controller executableinstructions stored therein, said instructions, when executed by thefood management controller, displaying on the first and second holdinglocation displays food amount indicators representing an amount of foodheld at the respective holding locations, the tangible storage mediumstoring food management controller executable instructions fordisplaying a first food status indicator on one of the first and secondholding location displays indicating food held at the holding locationassociated with said one of the first and second holding locationdisplays should be served first relative to food held at the holdinglocation associated with the other of the first and second holdinglocation displays,

wherein the food management controller is in operative communicationwith the point of sale device for receiving the customer order signal,and the food management controller is responsive to the customer ordersignal to change the food amount indicator displayed on said one of thefirst and second holding location displays to represent a reduced amountof food of the first food type held in said one of the first and secondholding locations.

F2. A food management control system as set forth in claim F1 whereinthe food amount indicators are numbers.

F3. A food management control system as set forth in claim F1 whereinthe first food status indicator is a color.

F4. A food management control system as set forth in claim F1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying on said other of the first andsecond holding location displays a second food status indicatorindicating food held at the holding location associated with said otherof the first and second holding location displays should be servedsecond relative to food held at the holding location associated withsaid one of the first and second holding location displays.

F5. A food management control system as set forth in claim F4 whereinthe second food status indicator is a color.

F6. A food management control system as set forth in claim F1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying the first food status indicatoron the holding location display associated with the holding locationholding food having the least time until expiration among food held atthe first and second holding locations.

F7. A food management control system as set forth in claim F1 whereinthe tangible storage medium includes food management controllerexecutable instructions for displaying food type indicators on the firstand second holding location displays for indicating the first type offood is held at the first and second holding locations.

F8. A food management control system as set forth in claim F1 whereinthe first and second holding location displays are arranged in an arraycorresponding to an arrangement of the respective first and secondholding locations, and the first and second holding location displaysare positioned in the array corresponding to positions of the respectivefirst and second holding locations in the arrangement.

F9. A food management control system as set forth in claim F8 whereinthe wherein the user interface includes a touch screen display, and thefirst and second holding location displays are sections of the touchscreen display.

What is claimed is:
 1. A food management system for managing food in afood holding apparatus having a plurality of holding locations, the foodmanagement system including: a food management controller configured formonitoring a status of the plurality of holding locations, a userinterface including a plurality of holding location displays associatedwith respective holding locations for displaying information associatedwith the holding locations, the holding location displays being arrangedin an array corresponding to an arrangement of the respective holdinglocations, the holding location displays being positioned in the arraycorresponding to positions of the respective holding locations in thearrangement, each holding location display including a touch sensitivearea defining a button that can be actuated by at least a first type ofuser engagement with the button and a second type of user engagementwith the button, a non-transitory tangible storage medium having foodmanagement controller executable instructions stored therein, saidinstructions, when executed by the food management controller,displaying on each holding location display current status of operationinformation representing a current status of operation of the respectiveholding location, the tangible storage medium storing food managementcontroller executable instructions to execute a first operation when afirst current status of operation information representing a firstcurrent status of operation is displayed on a first holding locationdisplay of the plurality of holding location displays and the button ofsaid first holding location display is actuated by the first type ofuser engagement, and to execute a second operation different than thefirst operation when a second current status of operation informationrepresenting a second current status of operation is displayed on saidfirst holding location display and the button of said first holdinglocation display is actuated by the first type of user engagement,whether the first or second operation is executed being based on thecorresponding first or second status of operation information displayedon said first holding location display when the button of said firstholding location display is actuated by the first type of userengagement, wherein the tangible storage medium stores food managementcontroller executable instructions to execute an operation differentthan the first operation when the first current status of operationinformation is displayed on said first holding location display and thebutton of said first holding location display is actuated by the secondtype of user engagement, whether the first operation or said operationdifferent than the first operation is executed when the first currentstatus of operation information is displayed being based on thecorresponding first or second type of user engagement used to actuatethe button of said first holding location display.
 2. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the firstcurrent status of operation the first current status of operationinformation represents is that unexpired food is held at the respectiveholding location.
 3. The food management control system as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said operation different than the first operation isdifferent than the second operation.
 4. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 1, wherein said second operation ischanging said first holding location display from the displaying thesecond current status of operation information to displaying a currentstatus of operation information different than the second current statusof operation information that represents no food is held at therespective holding location.
 5. The food management control system asset forth in claim 1, wherein said first type of user engagement is asustained press.
 6. The food management control system as set forth inclaim 5, wherein said second operation is changing said first holdinglocation display from the displaying the second current status ofoperation information to displaying a current status of operationinformation different than the second current status of operationinformation that represents no food is held at the respective holdinglocation.
 7. The food management control system as set forth in claim 1,wherein the first type of user engagement is a tap.
 8. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 7, wherein the secondtype of user engagement is a sustained press.
 9. The food managementcontrol system as set forth in claim 7, wherein said second type of userengagement is a swipe.
 10. The food management control system as setforth in claim 7, wherein said second type of user engagement is asustained press and drag.
 11. The food management control system as setforth in claim 1, wherein each holding location display of the pluralityof holding location displays displays the current status of operationinformation representative of the current status of operation of therespective holding location in the touch sensitive area defining thebutton.
 12. The food management control system as set forth in claim 1,wherein said second type of user engagement is a swipe.
 13. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said secondtype of user engagement is a sustained press and drag.
 14. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the firstcurrent status of operation information represents that no food is heldat said first holding location display.
 15. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 14, wherein the first current status ofoperation information has a dim appearance.
 16. The food managementcontrol system as set forth in claim 14, wherein the first currentstatus of operation information has a gray appearance.
 17. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 14, wherein the secondcurrent status of operation information includes a timer.
 18. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 14, wherein the secondcurrent status of operation information represents that food is held atthe respective holding location.
 19. The food management control systemas set forth in claim 18, wherein the second current status of operationinformation includes a timer.
 20. The food management control system asset forth in claim 19, wherein the tangible storage medium stores foodmanagement controller executable instructions to change a coloredappearance of the second current status of operation information basedon a time of the timer.
 21. The food management control system as setforth in claim 20, wherein the colored appearance of the second currentstatus of operation information changes among at least first, second,and third colored appearances, the first colored appearance includinggreen, the second colored appearance including yellow, and the thirdcolored appearance including red.
 22. The food management control systemas set forth in claim 1, wherein the first current status of operationinformation represents that the respective holding location is inactive.23. The food management control system as set forth in claim 22, whereinthe first current status of operation information has a dim appearance.24. The food management control system as set forth in claim 22, whereinthe first current status of operation information has a gray appearance.25. The food management control system as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe first operation is initiating a timer.
 26. The food managementcontrol system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the second currentstatus of operation information represents that food is held at therespective holding location.
 27. The food management control system asset forth in claim 26, wherein the second operation executed by thefirst type of user engagement is the food management controllertransferring association of an amount of food held at said first holdinglocation to a different holding location.
 28. The food managementcontrol system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said second operationincludes displaying a prompt screen.
 29. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 1, wherein said operation different thanthe first operation includes displaying a prompt screen.
 30. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidoperation different than the first operation includes transferring thefirst current status of operation information displayed at said firstholding location display to another holding location display.
 31. Thefood management control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidoperation different than the first operation includes transferring thesecond current status of operation information displayed at said firstholding location display to another holding location display.
 32. Thefood management control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein thetangible storage medium stores food management controller executableinstructions to display on each holding location display of theplurality of holding location displays a food type indicatorrepresenting a type of food.
 33. The food management control system asset forth in claim 32, wherein said operation different than the firstoperation includes altering the food type indicator of said firstholding location display.
 34. The food management control system as setforth in claim 33, wherein said operation different than the firstoperation includes altering an appearance of the food type indicator ofsaid first holding location display.
 35. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 1, wherein each holding location display ofthe plurality of holding location displays displays the current statusof operation information in the touch sensitive area defining thebutton.
 36. The food management control system as set forth in claim 35,wherein for each holding location display of the plurality of holdinglocation displays the button includes a boundary substantiallycoextensive with the respective holding location display.
 37. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 35, wherein for eachholding location display of the plurality of holding location displaysthe button includes a boundary indicated on the respective holdinglocation display by a border.
 38. The food management control system asset forth in claim 1, wherein the first operation executed by the firsttype of user engagement is the food management controller recording inthe non-transitory tangible storage medium an amount of food as beingheld at the respective holding location.
 39. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 1, wherein the second current status ofoperation information represents that an expired hold time associatedwith the respective holding location.
 40. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 39, wherein the second operation executedby the first type of user engagement includes the food managementcontroller changing the second current status of operation informationto a different current status of operation information that representsno food is held at the respective holding location.
 41. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 39, wherein the secondoperation executed by the first type of user engagement includes thefood management controller changing the second current status ofoperation information to the first current status of operationinformation.
 42. The food management control system as set forth inclaim 41, wherein the first current status of operation informationrepresents that no food is held at the respective holding location. 43.The food management control system as set forth in claim 39, wherein thesecond operation executed by the first type of user engagement includesthe food management controller recording as waste in the non-transitorytangible storage medium an amount of food last held at the respectiveholding location.
 44. The food management control system as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the non-transitory tangible storage medium includesfood management controller executable instructions for executing a thirdoperation in response to the first type of user engagement with thebutton of said first holding location display when a third currentstatus of operation information representing a third current status ofoperation is displayed on said first holding location display.
 45. Thefood management control system as set forth in claim 44, wherein thethird current status of operation information represents an expired holdtime associated with the respective holding location.
 46. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein an appearanceof the button of said first holding location display when a firstholding location status is displayed on said first holding locationdisplay is substantially the same as an appearance of the button of saidfirst holding location display when a second holding location status isdisplayed on said first holding location display except for updating ofdisplayed current status of operation information representative of thecurrent status of operation of the respective holding location in thetouch sensitive area of said first holding location display defining thebutton.
 47. The food management control system as set forth in claim 1,wherein each holding location display of the plurality of holdinglocation displays displays an indicator representative of current statusof operation of the respective holding location in the touch sensitivearea of said respective holding location display defining the button,the indicator comprising one of a food amount indicator representing anamount of food held at the respective holding location, a food hold timeindicator representing a time food has been held at the respectiveholding location, and a food type indicator indicating a type of foodheld at the respective holding location.
 48. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 47, wherein the second current status ofoperation information includes the indicator.
 49. The food managementcontrol system as set forth in claim 48, wherein the first currentstatus of operation information includes the indicator.
 50. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 48, wherein the firstcurrent status of operation information is free of the indicator. 51.The food management control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein eachholding location display of the plurality of holding location displaysdisplays first and second indicators representative of current status ofoperation of the respective holding location in the touch sensitive areaof said respective holding location display defining the button, each ofthe first indicator and the second indicator comprising a food amountindicator representing an amount of food held at the respective holdinglocation, a food hold time indicator representing a time food has beenheld at the respective holding location, or a food type indicatorindicating a type of food held at the respective holding location; andthe second indicator being different from the first indicator.
 52. Thefood management control system as set forth in claim 51, wherein thesecond current status of operation information includes the first andsecond indicators.
 53. The food management control system as set forthin claim 52, wherein the first current status of operation informationincludes at least one of the first or second indicators.
 54. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 52, wherein the firstcurrent status of operation information is free of the first and secondindicators.
 55. The food management control system as set forth in claim51, wherein the first indicator comprises the food hold time indicatorand the second indicator comprises the food type indicator.
 56. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 55, wherein the secondcurrent status of operation information includes the food hold timeindicator and the food type indicator.
 57. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 56, wherein the first current status ofoperation information includes the food type indicator.
 58. The foodmanagement control system as set forth in claim 57, wherein the firstcurrent status of operation information is free of the food hold timeindicator.
 59. The food management control system as set forth in claim1, wherein each holding location display of the plurality of holdinglocation displays displays first, second, and third indicatorsrepresentative of current status of operation of the respective holdinglocation in the touch sensitive area of said respective holding locationdisplay defining the button, the first indicator comprising a foodamount indicator representing an amount of food held at the respectiveholding location, the second indicator comprising a food hold timeindicator representing a time food has been held at the respectiveholding location, and the third indicator comprising a food typeindicator indicating a type of food held at the respective holdinglocation.
 60. The food management control system as set forth in claim59, wherein the second current status of operation information includesthe first, second, and third indicators.
 61. The food management controlsystem as set forth in claim 60, wherein the first current status ofoperation information includes at least one of the first, second, orthird indicators.
 62. The food management control system as set forth inclaim 61, wherein the first current status of operation information isfree of the other of the at least one of the first, second, or thirdindicators.
 63. The food management control system as set forth in claim1, wherein each holding location display of the plurality of holdinglocation displays displays only current status of operation informationrepresentative of the current status of operation of the respectiveholding location in the touch sensitive area.
 64. The food managementcontrol system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the touch sensitive areaof each holding location display of the plurality of holding locationdisplays is free of any indicator indicating an operation executed inresponse to the first type of user engagement with the button.